The Dragonslayer Greatbow, at first, seems to be unremarkable for its weight and lower base damage, when compared to the Alonne Greatbow. However, what makes the former outclass the latter greatbow is its improved strength scaling, as well as requiring more strength instead of dexterity, effectively making the Dragonslayer Greatbow a strength-oriented greatbow. This greatbow also consumes a very large amount of stamina per shot, meaning most players may only get one effective shot fired before low stamina penalties begin to occur on the successive attacks.

Unique only to this greatbow, and its Lanafir cousin, is that it has a stabilizing anchor on the bottom, meaning that one must anchor the bow in the ground before pulling back the string, thus making it fire at an incredibly slow rate. This can be mitigated if the player takes their time and avoids enemy engagement at close range, allowing them to effectively snipe enemies for high damage at longer ranges.

It requires Petrified Dragon Bones in order to be upgraded, and the scaling does not change at maximum reinforcement.